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Remember: Anti-lock doesn't change the time you need
to get your foot up to the brake pedal or always decrease
stopping distance. If you get too close to the vehicle in
front of you, you won't have time to apply your brakes
if that vehicle suddenly slows or stops. Always leave
enough room up ahead to stop, even though you have
anti-lock brakes.
Using Anti-Lock
Don't pump the brakes. Just hold the brake pedal
down and let anti-lock work for you. You may feel the
system working, or you may notice some noise, but this
is normal.
ABS
ACTIVE
When your anti-lock system
is adjusting brake pressure
to help avoid a braking skid,
this light will come on. See
"Anti-Lock Brake System
Active Light" in the Index.
Braking in Emergencies
At some time, nearly every driver getsinto
a
situation
that requires hard braking.
If you have anti-lock, you can steer and brake at the
same time. However, if you don't have anti-lock, your
first reaction
--
to hit the brake pedal hard and hold
it
down
--
may be the wrong thing to do. Your wheels can
stop rolling. Once they do, the vehicle can't respond to
your steering, Momentum will carry it in whatever
direction it was headed when the wheels stopped rolling.
That could be off the road, into the very thing you were
trying to avoid, or into traffic.
If you don't have anti-lock, use a "squeeze" braking
technique. This
will
give you maximum braking
while
maintaining steering control. You do this by pushing on
the brake pedal with steadily increasing pressure.
In an emergency, you will probably want to squeeze the
brakes hard without locking the wheels. If you hear or
feel the wheels sliding, ease off the brake pedal. This
will help you retain steering control. (If you do have
anti-lock, it's different: see "Anti-Lock Brakes" in
the Index.)
In many emergencies, steering can help you more than
even the very best braking.
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